I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Leslie North. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Born into a Russian Mafia family, Vlad Karev is no stranger to violence…but this time it’s personal. Someone has murdered his father and Vlad can’t rest until he finds the killer. When the trail leads to an art gallery, Vlad wants to dig deeper, but he needs help from the owner’s daughter. The pretty redhead is far too innocent for a man like Vlad, but he’ll do what it takes to get the information he needs. His obligations are to the family, even if that means using the fiery woman.
Madison O’Connor works hard to keep her family’s gallery going, although secretly she has little interest in art. But when she discovers her father’s been laundering money for the Russian Mafia, she’ll do everything she can to keep him out of jail. She hates to lie, but she has a plan…seduce the Russian bad boy to learn the mob’s secrets. Never mind his dangerous exterior or icy blue eyes, Madison’s going to get her family free of the mob, even if she has to use Vlad Karev to do it.
As the killer gets closer, so do Vlad and Madison. But is their connection just the means to an end, or could their romance be real?

Leslie North is the pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.The truth of the matter is she loves her fictional persona, Leslie North, more than her normal, day-to-day persona! Her bestselling books focus on strong characters and particularly women who aren't afraid to challenge an alpha male. Inspired after years of travel, her stories are set all over the world, from the tough streets of Russia to the beautiful beaches of the middle east.Leslie fell in love with romance when she first picked up a scrappy, dog-eared romance book from her local library. She began writing soon after and the rest, as they say, was history. She now lives in a cozy cottage on the British coast and enjoys taking long walks with her two Dalmatians, George and Fergie.

D.C. Cole, originally an actor from California, has spent the last dozen years wandering the globe in search of...something. Self-awareness? Eternal truth? Magic, perhaps? (Cheap beer, probably.)Once, on a Tibetan mountain top, he spent an entire month in silence to better understand the sound of a whisper. He spent a year in a small village in the Shandong Province of China, learning the ancient art of erotic mumbling. And one week out of every year, D.C. travels to Sanchi Stupa Temple in Madhya Pradesh, India, to perform one hundred thousand pushups, using only his tongue. (Actually, none of that's true, but it sounds better than "He spent twelve years getting drunk in strange places with strange people while wearing a backpack.")D. C. has recently settled down in Brazil, where he enjoys collecting tattoos and drinking caipirinhas.When not telling tall tales, D. C. locks himself inside his closet-sized studio and reads romantic and erotic stories into a microphone. Some people seem to enjoy his voice.

Would you listen to Her Ruthless Russian again? Why?

As my headline indicates, I would listen to this again. Our narrator does a great job of bringing this book to life. He had me so sucked into the story that I hated having to turn the car off.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the tension that I could feeling coming through my car speakers. Both characters feel that they are right about the other but that doesn't stop other feelings from coming to the forefront. It mixes well with the mystery and suspense that surrounds Vlad's family. A great thing about listening to a story is that you get a different perspective about the characters.

Have you listened to any of D. C. Cole’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to one other of Mr. Cole's performances. It's hard to compare the two since the stories are different. Plus I don't feel that it's fair to either author to make any comparisons. The better question would be if I would listen to him again and that answer would be yes. He makes any commute so much more pleasurable and helps you get lost into the story he is telling.

Any additional comments?

This was a great way to start this series. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't see that there's another audiobook for the Karev Brothers but that won't stop me from seeing what these brothers have in store for me. Maybe by the time I get some more books read Maxim's story will be out than I have two books to enjoy during my commute. Also love me some romance when it's mixed with mystery and suspense in any form. Great job by both the author and the narrator.

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FTC Disclaimer

In accordance with FTC guidelines for bloggers and endorsements, I would like to clarify that the books reviewed on my blog, Lynn's Romance Enthusiasm, are provided by the publisher/author free of charge. I am neither compensated for my reviews nor are my opinions influenced in any way by the avenues in which I obtain my materials.